I Didn’t Escape During Kuje Prison Attack, I Hid Like a Rat — Abba Kyari Tells Court

Abba Kyari, suspended deputy commissioner of police (DCP), says he hid like a rat during the recent attack on the correctional facility in Kuje.

Recall that on July 5, gunmen attacked the Kuje correctional facility and freed over 500 inmates, including suspected members of Boko Haram. Although, there were rumours that Kyari and other “high profile” inmates escaped, Abubakar Umar, spokesperson of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), denied the claim.

Moving another bail application at the court session on Wednesday, Kyari, through his lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, told the court that he had the opportunity to escape but declined to do so. He said the invasion of the correctional facility has established “a special and exceptional circumstance” that should warrant the court to release him and his co-defendant on bail, pending the determination of the drug trafficking charge.

“My lord, every living soul in this country will agree that there was not just a breach, but that there was a grand terrarist attack by an organisation that not only successfully invaded the Kuje prison, but took control of it for over three hours. However, the applicant, being a law-abiding citizen, refused to take off.

If there is anything to establish that the defendants will not jump bail, it was that circumstance.

In fact, the defendant hid like a rat, because the organisation that conducted the attack went from cell to cell, saying they want to take him and the others to the desert. These people have suffered. They are traumatized by the events of that night. You can imagine what it felt like, witnessing the attackers planting explsives everywhere in the prison.”

The lawyer also said the defendants anticipated that the prison facility could be attacked, which was why they applied for bail previously but were denied. But Sunday Joseph, counsel to the NDLEA, opposed the bail application. Meanwhile, Emeka Nwite, the trial judge, adjourned ruling on the defendants’ fresh applications for bail till August 30.